Television

Coronation Street

Although she had already appeared in other television programmes including The Benny Hill Show (1957), Hancock's Half Hour (1957) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1958), Reid's first major acting role was as the character of Valerie Tatlock (later Barlow) on Coronation Street. Her character was very popular with the fans with Valerie's marriage to Ken Barlow being an early example of a soap supercouple. Her character Valerie was the mother of the twins Susan and Peter. Reid joined the cast, initially for two months, starting in August 1961 and leaving in October. She returned to the programme to marry Ken on 1 August 1962 in a wedding watched by 15.8 million viewers. In 1965 Val and Ken had twins and Granada Television received numerous gifts addressed to the couple as congratulations.

In 1968, Reid played one of the most difficult parts in Coronation Street, when Val was held hostage by a rapist. Although Val was not harmed, viewers sent in hate mail to the actor who played the rapist. In November 1970, Reid announced she was leaving Coronation Street. In a 2011 interview with the Radio Times, Reid said she had had enough and wanted to do other things.

I was a basket case when I left! I'd already had too much of it. That kind of work suits some people, but it didn't suit me. It was my decision to leave and I was desperate, really desperate, to go. Because I knew I was good at comedy and there was no way that Valerie Barlow was ever going to be funny.[10]

On 27 January 1971, 18.26 million viewers watched as Valerie Barlow was written out, dying after being electrocuted by a hairdryer with a faulty plug.[10] On 3 February 1971, the character's funeral was shown and 18.92 million people watched.

Additionally, Reid filmed a minor role as a lesbianheadmistress in the movie Love Actually (2003), but Reid is not credited in the cast list since all her scenes were ultimately deleted, because they were not central to the main plot. The scenes can, however, be viewed in the deleted scenes on the Love Actually DVD.[35]